The Vons supermarket, located on Sunset Boulevard at Pacific Coast Highway, will undergo a 10-week remodel starting later this month or in April, once final approvals have been received from the city, according to Carlos Illingworth, Vons’ manager of public affairs. Although the footprint of the building will stay the same, rearranging the interior space will increase the sales-floor size to 24,542 square feet (about half the size of a typical Vons). Restriping of the parking lot will increase the number of spaces from 98 to 104. The makeover includes moving the loading dock from the south side (PCH) of the building to the north side (close to Sunset). The Sunset driveway will be widened at its current location, while the PCH driveway will remain the same. In January, several residents expressed concerns at a Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting that the proposed shift of the loading dock could endanger customers entering and exiting through the parking lot area. The Council waited to comment until the City Planning Department made a recommendation. At its March 4 meeting, the Council learned that Hui Huang of the L.A. Department of Transportation had agreed with Vons’ plan. He stated, ‘The project applicant [Vons] presented a revised site plan which we deemed satisfactory to our requirements.’ The key revision is that the length of the trailer attached to the trucks will be limited to 27 feet because of the constricted on-site turning radius. ’Due to the relocation of the dock to the north side of the store in conjuction with the remodel, the length of the truck trailer will be considerably shorter than the length of the truck trailers servicing the store today,’ Illingworth told the Palisadian-Post on Tuesday. Trucks will access the lot from PCH and exit onto Sunset, which is the current pattern. But residents and Community Council members have long sought to have the Vons lot exit on Sunset aligned with Castellammare Drive, which is directly above the lot and has a traffic signal. ’It is not presently possible to relocate the store’s Sunset driveway to align with Castellammare due to DWP vaults that are located in the parkway at that location,’ Illingworth said. ‘However, even if the vaults were relocated, it would be extremely difficult to relocate the store’s driveway to align with Castellammare due to the proximity of Vons’ building to Sunset as well as the difference in grade between Sunset and the parking lot.’ Illingworth added that regardless whether DWP relocates the parkway vaults, ‘It is Vons’ intent to work with the various city agencies to realign the Castellammare Drive/Sunset intersection with our driveway in order to increase safety at this intersection.’ In January, Illingworth told the Post that Vons wanted to shift the loading dock because ‘We’re trying to deter loitering and vagrancy, clean up the site for customers, and give a nice appearance along the scenic highway.’ A Starbucks will replace the original dock, allowing coffee drinkers a view of the ocean from a newly constructed two-level patio. To patronize Starbucks, customers will have to enter through Vons and will not be able to exit from the patio to the parking lot.
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